2005 - Year 4 - Capilano Midsummer Night Run


2005 Starters - More photos in the photo gallery


A fine summer evening greeted starters as they assembled on a suburban North Vancouver cul-de-sac for the Capilano Canyon Night Run (a Midsummer Nights Dream) this past Saturday. As young Erik raised his cap gun just after 8:00 pm, young Austin shouted, "3-2-1 Go!" and 24 Club Fat Ass members set off into the dusk for a trail run.

Neighbors were out on the street with beers in hand offering encouragement. A large group of Japanese language students also politely applauded this odd Canadian ritual with reserved shouts of "Gambate!"

At the first intersection, the field divided into 2 with the shorter, 12K Group run heading east and the longer, 17K Competitive runners heading west. The objective is for everyone to merge back together a couple of kilometers before the finish and arrive back at the start within roughly 90 minutes...then have a party.

The run has been hosted 7 times over the past 4 years (there's also a Mardi Gras version in February.) About 20 minutes into the summer version, both Group and Competitive courses are into some rocky, rooty trail sections and it gets very, very dark. Amazingly enough, and for the very first time in the history of the run, there were no seriously lost lambs and no trees or rocks were damaged by people hurtling into them. There were no pervert or bear sightings this year, however, many runner's hearts skipped a beat when a skunk decided to pick a fight with a cat on the Bowser Trail section.

For the very first time, there were 2 Club Fat Ass events to choose from on the same day: the Full Monty in Victoria, British Columbia and the Night Run in North Vancouver. Decisions, decisions. Both Geoff Palmer (infamous as the host of the Fluffy Bunny Trail run) and Doug Bodnar made a compromise. Both ran the inaugural Half Monty 25K then hopped into their cars and took a long ferry ride so they could also complete the Capilano Night Run!

A yellow "harvest" full moon illuminated the trail so well that in open areas, our headlamps and flashlights weren't even needed. Pat Berry saw a shooting star. (An omen of good luck, as she won a subscription to Trail Runner magazine later in the evening!) At roughly 1 hour into the run, we were treated to a fine buffet of homemade cookies and other goodies by Cathy and Bryce Adams at Aid Station Adams. Before allowing us back onto the trail, Bryce made all runners put their heads on his baseball bat and run around it 3 times. He also got us to hopscotch as we made our way down the trail. Cruel! (Ten year old Bryce, by the way, ran sweep with his Dad, Ron, and partied to midnight.)

The finish area was bustling with activity by the time I arrived. Seven year old Erik (the official co-starter of the event) offered showers from the garden hose. Candles and tiki lights illuminated the stairs and decks lending a magical feel to the party that kicked off in earnest as the buffet table was spread. It seemed that everyone put in a special effort for the potluck this year. Selections included several home baked blackberry dishes (pies, scones), wild rice salad, quesadillas, spicy marinated vegetables, wraps, sushi, vodka jigglers, fresh figs, homemade mango sorbet and fruit salad.

Thanks to Trail Runner magazine, Hammergel and Sibylle Tinsel, who pitched in some homemade blackberry jam, there were prizes. The Glutton for Punishment award, of course, was awarded to both Doug and Geoff for their double-hitter. Youngest runner and best aid station recognition went to Bryce Adams. Pat Barry was the most experienced runner of the evening having completed 6/7 Capilano Canyon night runs while Mike Rhodes got a prize for the top placing "virgin".

The next Capilano Canyon Night Run (Mardi Gras) will be on February 18th. Cold, freezing rain, lots of mud and a grumpy bear or 2 are on order, so I hope to see you at the start!

Ean Jackson
Co-Host

Place First Name Last Name City/Town Province
/State		 Age Time Point Series
Competitive Run
1 Bill Dagg Vancouver BC 42 1:36:42 2
1 Geoff Palmer Coquitlam BC 23 1:36:42 1
3 Desmon Mott North Vancouver BC 46 1:41 2
3 Paul Cubbon North Vancouver BC 43 1:41:00 2
5 Doug MacKay North Vancouver BC 54 1:53 1
6 Ean Jackson North Vancouver BC 47 1:54 2
6 Mike Rhodes North Vancouver BC 40 1:54 1
8 Eileen Bistrisky Vancouver BC 38 3:00 2
8 Ryan Russell Richmond BC 32 3:00 1
 
Group Run
1 Robert Westendorp Vancouver BC 40 1:16 2
2 Russ Chore Pitt Meadows BC 31 1:26 2
2 Christine Rybak Pitt Meadows BC 34 1:26 2
4 Baldwin Lee Burnaby BC 32 1:29:30 2
4 John Machray North Vancouver BC 52 1:29:30 2
4 Craig Moore North Vancouver BC 44 1:29:30 2
4 Claudia Bullington Richmond BC 38 1:30:11 1
8 Patricia Barry Vancouver BC 44 1:46 2
8 Sibylle Tinsel North Vancouver BC 42 1:46 2
10 Cheryl Johnson Pitt Meadows BC 56 1:47 2
10 Rhonda Schuller Vancouver BC 55 1:47 1
12 Doug Bodnar Victoria BC 38 2:00 2
 
Custom Course
1 Ron Adams North Vancouver BC   0:28:54 1
2 Bryce Adams North Vancouver BC 10 0:28:54 1
3 Donna Rodman North Vancouver BC 55 1:15 1
 
Crew
  Bryce Adams North Vancouver BC 10   2
  Cathy Adams North Vancouver BC     2
  Troy Angrignon Vancouver BC     2
  Ethelyn David Surrey BC     2
  Austin David Surrey BC 9   3*
  Johanna Jackson North Vancouver BC 8   2
  Erik Jackson North Vancouver BC 7   2
  Sascha Westendorp Vancouver BC     2

 

* earned 1 extra point for picking up garbage

 

 

24 Starters
24 Finisher
7 Crew

Registration - Background - Agenda - Course - Thanks - Results - Contact - FAQ

 

You said it...

Thanks to everybody who answered the Capilano Night Run Post Event survey. Below is a collection of your feedback and my response to it:

Date (day of week, time of year, conflicts with other events...)

  • Only because I didn't do RTN, or Whistler 5 Peaks, or Gearjammer that day, so was perfect for me.
  • Excellent race, awesome fullmoon! Great people. I usually do the 5peaks runs, but it conflicts with most of CFAs events. July would also be a good option for a night run.. maybe the club could have another night run. Just an idea.
  • Just perfect

(It's hard to find a "free weekend". We try to schedule most of our events to avoid conflict with the local trail/ultra races. The Midsummer Night Run date is strategically chosen to fall between "Stormy" and "Ironman Canada". We figure if you do Stormy or Ironman, there is no way that you can also particpate in the Night Run that same weekend. On the other hand, folks have been known to do Five Peaks and the Night Run on the same day ;-)

Time (start time...)

  • Night events rock!

Start/finish area (location, parking, washrooms, shelter...)

  • Can't beat someone's house.
  • very good organization
  • good parking, washrooms and location. Couldn't be better

(Nobody mentioned the outdoor shower...)

The course itself (terrain, difficulty...)

  • I found it fun, easy, non-technical, and predominantly flat. Perfect for a Saturday
    evening stroll.
  • It was a challenging terrain. I love it! some trails, streets, gravel roads. It balances well permitting for some relaxing run and tmore technical terrain.
  • great course - very inventive and creative use of greenways! well done! i liked it - especially for a night run... but would have wished to do it in daytime first. its probably just me, but i find trails are easier on the creaky ol' knees.

The course description (accuracy, complexity, measurement...)

  • 90% of it was perfect and very easy/idiot proof to follow. A couple spots had us looking for things prematurely (rabbit trail after playground for example).
  • I ran with a group all the time, so no need to read instructions... I know this is not the usual way, but being my first time, it helped.
  • Hey, I finished in 1:29, so it was pretty close to estimated completion.
  • like the map

(I'll check that Rabbit Trail reference...and try to make it clearer for next year)

Level of competition (too little, too much...)

  • Not in it for the competition. Didn't find it too competitive.
  • Just perfect. I could run at my pace

Post-event activities

  • Too bad people left so early, but I had fun.
  • The pot-luck and social side was excellent. Very good variety of dishes, salad, dessert, sushi and even wine!
  • Wanted to see what I was eating a bit better ;)
  • Needed more lighting at the food tables -- hard to see what was there.
  • WOW! nice potluck and gathering . thank you!
  • Great spread, I wished I could've spent more time at the buffet table than in the toilet.
  • nice party!
  • Very gracious of you to offer your home & patio

(it was a pleasure to have you all. Glad the weather cooperated. In terms of food...it was gourmet heaven. There was not a single bag of chips to be seen. Oh...we are fixing the lighting for next year!)

Results (were they accurate, distributed promptly...)

  • Results were posted sooner than I expected, usually even the big races (I mean sponsored races) take few days to post final results.
  • Haven't seen them yet.
  • haven't seen them
  • Didn't spend much time analysing them. Don't really care about results.

Event website (was it easy to find information, complete...)

  • Your website is very well organized and user friendly. Easy to get all info about the event, registration, agenda, etc. Lots of websites including trail ultra runs, link to CFA events. I'm happy I ran into one of those links and had the chance to do my first run with the Club.
  • Not sure I'm registering properly. Just tried to register for Go Deep or Go home. Not sure if that went through.
  • Couldn't enter "0" for number of previous times doing this event.

(The problem mentioned above is fixed now, thanks for pointing it out)

Overall event (value, challenge, course, atmosphere...)

  • I think the award for doing multiple CFA events that occur on the same day should be called The Twin Cheeks Award.
  • Great introduction to night running for me

(I love the Twin Cheeks Award idea!)